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Educational options create controversy over how to school children

Michael Congdon sat at the kitchen table, chemistry book open, listening intently to his mother, Harriet Congdon, explain the difference between molecular and ionic compounds. The seventh grader sat surrounded by four other junior high students. He concentrated on the teacher, his pencil poised.

Mrs. Congdon considered school options when she became concerned about Michael, then in first grade. While volunteering in his public school classroom, she observed that her son struggled. Michael demonstrated symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder and suffered from emotional problems that led him to lash out at other children. He developed a facial tick--an outward sign of the tremendous stress he underwent in a classroom setting.

"I realized he was falling through the cracks. He wasn't getting the attention he needed," she said. "By the end of his first grade year, I saw no progress-- he didn't even know his letter sounds."

At the same time, Mrs. Congdon's husband, a public high school science teacher, said he disliked what he saw in the middle schools. Based on what he observed, he "wondered whether education was really occurring."

Because both Mrs. Congdon and her husband placed a high value on education, they felt compelled to consider alternatives to public school.

Private school was not an option for the Congdons because they lived off a single income. So they looked into home schooling.

In the January of Michael's first grade year, Mrs. Congdon attended Portland's Home School Winter Workshop. At the workshop, she heard veteran home schoolers, and she discovered the curriculum availiable.

The materials impressed Mrs. Congdon. "I thought, 'I can do this,'" she said.

"At that time, John and I were praying about it. I tell people I went kicking and screaming into this--I did not want to home school," she said. "But I saw it as a way out, something that Michael needed. And as I prayed, I just knew that home schooling was what God wanted me to do. Emotionally, I still wasn't there, but out of obedience I did it."

After preparing for six months, Mrs. Congdon withdrew Michael and his older brother, Daniel, from school and began teaching them at home. Daniel was happy to come home. "He was real sensitive, and kids teased him a lot," Mrs. Congdon said. "He was just insecure and unhappy--he needed time to gain security." David, a fifth grader, stayed in school for one more year.

"We saw immediate results," Mrs. Congdon said. Michael's tick disappeared and he began to learn. She has home schooled him for eight years.

John and Harriet Congdon are just one set of Christian parents among millions faced with the difficult decision of how to secure the best education for their children. According to Byron Kehler, a youth and family counselor, choosing the best educational format for your child is "a hard call."

According to Mr. Kehler, all three major tennets of education--public school, private school and home school--provide the intellectual stimulation necessary for a child's healthy cognitive development. Systems diverge in areas of social and spiritual development, he said.

Although public school does not train children in spiritual things, Mr. Kehler believes public school holds many benefits for Christian children. He said he chose public school because he wanted to give his children the opportunity to influence their peers for Christ. "If all of us pull our kids out of the public schools and put them in private schools, how do we continue to be salt and light to a culture that is desperately seeking?" he asked.

Wally Scherler, a Christian principal of Sam Barlow High School for 18 years, agrees. "We are supposed to be part of the world and have an influence on the world," he said.

"Christianity is a position of strength, not a position of weakness," he said. "Within the context of the public school, our children can go and have a positive influence on people."

Mr. Kehler said public school provides children with a balanced perspective on life.

"I wanted my kids to strongly evalutate what they believe in light of the world overall and in the face of conflicting views and values," he said.

Mr. Scherler emphasized that public school provides a safe environment for kids to evaluate their beliefs. Contrary to the majority of the Christian community, Mr. Scherler believes the separation of church and state works to the parents' advantage because it keeps teachers from pushing their own religious agendas on children.

He said public schools provide children with many educational opportunities that private and home schools cannot afford. Because public schools are larger and have access to more resources, they offer children more academically, Mr. Scherler said. Barlow's debate team won the state title in speech and debate this year, and the school's music program has been one of the top five in the state for more than 10 years.

Mrs. Congdon also acknowledged that public schools provide more opportunities, especially at the high school level. Both David and Daniel returned to public school as high schoolers. David has served as editor of his school newspaper for three years, something he could never have done as a home schooler, Mrs. Congdon said. The boys also have access to upper-level math and science courses.

Mr. Kehler said even in the realm of character development, public school is not the enemy. "There are a lot of good teachers in the public schools who are invested in their students' learning," he said.

"I caution people against saying the whole system is corrupt and a conspiracy against the Christian faith--that's cruel and untrue."

However, advocates of Christian education believe that values are best translated in a nurturing, Christian environment.

Bill Buck, principal of Portland Christian Elementary School, said Christianity should be integrated into every aspect of a child's life. "A Christian education teaches the children that God is involved in everyday life," he said. "It breaks down the barrier between secular and sacred."

Mr. Buck said Christian education provides children with a solid, biblical worldview by integrating aspects of faith with the learning process. "Instead of looking at things from a secular viewpoint, we look at things from a biblical viewpoint," he said.

Students attending Portland Christian receive one class period of Bible each day, and the school emphasizes a character quality each month.

He said the Christian school community of teachers and children with homogeneous values help character development. However, he encourages parents to involve their children in the community and in activities outside of school and church.

Mr. Kehler agreed that private school can be a positive environment, but he said private school doesn't ensure that children will develop strong Christian character.

"I know lots of kids who would say there was as much drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll on [Christian] campuses as in public schools," he said. "The only difference being that you get better training in hypocrisy in a private school because there's pressure to look a certain way."

Every home school is different because families are different, Mrs. Congdon said. She said the quality depends on the paretns.

Mrs. Congdon said home schooling presents many advantages. Children can thrive on the vast selection of materials available and the one-on-one attention received. After removing Michael, who was illiterate, Mrs. Congdon had him reading at the second-grade level within three months.

Another advantage to home schooling is extra time. During elementary school, a child can get all his schoolwork done in two to four hours, Mrs. Congdon said, allowing time for music lessons, field trips and cultural educational opportunities.

Mrs. Congdon said that the extra time the family had together improved their relationships. Her attitude about home schooling also changed.

"God did a miracle in my heart. I liked having my own time. But what resulted was a bond and a communication level that I'm not sure we would have had otherwise.

"At the end of the six months, I found a contentment and happiness. I loved teaching them--that took me by surprise. I thought I was going to be dreading every day, but I ended up loving it."

Mrs. Congdon also recognizes pitfalls in home schooling children. One is a lack of socialization. "There is a danger," Mrs. Congdon said. "Home schoolers socialize quite well with adults, but they're not able to socialize as well with their peers."

Mrs. Congdon frequently invited children to her home to meet her sons' needs. Seven years ago, she began a coop with other home school families. The coop met once a week, and each parent came prepared to teach the children a different subject.

"We found that the kids worked harder for the other moms," she said. "Plus, there was the element of competition. Kids need to evaluate themselves against other kids."

Mrs. Congdon admitted that home schooling can also fail academically. "My husband has had home schoolers come into his class, and he has been very disappointed," she said. "Sometimes their academic ability is inferior. I've met some very bright, advanced home schoolers. I'm just disappointed there aren't more of them."

Mrs. Congdon said that parents must be committed to educating their children for home schooling to succeed. She dropped out of ministry and other activities to focus on home schooling. "As a parent, how you handle their home schooling will help or create a barrier for their future."

Mr. Kehler acknowledged that there are pros and cons to every educational format. He suggested parents know their children and research the possibilites before making a decision.

First, parents should consider their children's needs, he said. Which school will help them develop a love for learning? Which setting will develop character? Which will best equip them to live for Christ?

Second, Mr. Kehler suggested that parents become familiar with the options. "I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it, or we're better parents if we choose one over the other," he said

He also said parents should take an active role in their children's education regardless of whether they send them to school or teach them at home.

Mrs. Congdon agreed that parents should take responsibility for their children's education. But she doesn't believe that home school is necessarily the best way to educate children.

"Many of my friends home school because they have a personal conviction that it's their responsibility to teach their kids, not the states'," she said. "I respect that, but I don't have that conviction. I am responsible, even if they're in public school, for their overall educational needs."

Mrs. Congdon is unsure if she'll continue home schooling Michael. "I had to come to the point of being willing to home school him through high school," she said. "If that's what he needs, then that's what I'm going to do. I take it one year at a time."